Study: 4.6 Million American Kids Live in Homes With Unlocked, Loaded Guns
Source: The Daily Beast
A new study published in the Journal of Urban Health also finds that people who own guns primarily for protection are less likely to store them securely.
THE TRACE
05.22.18 10:39 AM ET
By Nora Biette-Timmons. This article originally appeared on The Trace.
A country where one in three households owns guns is a country where a lot of children grow up alongside deadly weapons. New calculations indicate just how many of those kids live in homes where adults fail to safely store their firearms.
According to the analysis, an estimated 4.6 million American children reside in a household where at least one gun is kept loaded and unlocked. The study’s authors also determined that the share of child-rearing gun owners who don’t secure all their firearms has more than doubled since the last time similar research was conducted.
The findings were published online on May 10 in the Journal of Urban Health, a little more than a week before a gun rampage outside of Houston provided a horrific illustration of the dangers that arise when firearms are left accessible to children and teens.
Kids find guns and unintentionally shoot themselves or others. Unsecured firearms are a leading means of youth suicide. As the nation was reminded last Friday, children also sometimes use their parents’ or caregivers’ guns to commit homicides or mass murders: The 17-year-old student charged with fatally shooting 10 and wounding 13 more at his high school in Sante Fe, Texas, on Friday reportedly carried out his attack with a shotgun and revolver belonging to his father. A federal analysis of school shootings released in 2004 found that fords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/child-consumer-safety/child-access-prevention/" target="_blank">65 percent of perpetrators used a gun owned by a relative.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/study-46-million-american-kids-live-in-homes-with-unlocked-loaded-guns
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